Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients enrolled in the LiCALS trial versus the SEALS population based register
| Variable | SEALS (n=296) | LiCALS (n=217) | Comparison (test) | |
| Mean age at onset (years) | 63.5 | 58.0 | p<0.001 (t test) | |
| Median diagnostic delay (months) | 12.5 | 9.8 | p<0.001 (Mann-Whitney U) | |
| Sex (M:F %) | 52:48 | 70:30 | p<0.001 (χ2) | |
| Site of onset (%) | Bulbar | 29.3 | 21.7 | p=0.004 (χ2) |
| Spinal | 66.9 | 78.3 | ||
| Not recorded | 3.7 | 0 | ||
| El Escorial (%) | Definite | 27.7 | 38.2 | p<0.001 (χ2) |
| Probable | 48.6 | 37.3 | ||
| Clinically probable- laboratory supported | 1.7 | 18 | ||
| Possible | 11.8 | 6.5 | ||
| Suspected | 2.7 | 0 | ||
| Not recorded | 7.4 | 0 | ||
Comparison of patients enrolled in the lithium in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (LiCALS) study24 compared with the population-based South-East England ALS (SEALS) register from which participants were recruited.